SmallGovTimes.com

By: Ken Marotte | Published on 04/29/07    

A recent speaking engagement afforded me a deeper glimpse into Third Party America.

In December 2006, I wrote a piece defending Rep. Bob Barr for jumping ship from the GOP to the Libertarian Party. Discussing the two-party dilemma, I rhetorically asked my readers:

Shall we put principle ahead of pragmatism? I believe so. Some of America's brightest — Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and King among them — did. And look what they wrought. Is third party involvement and voting a waste, as Bartlett implies? I think not. For a citizen in the world's freest, most advanced, most prosperous country to have to choose between the lesser of two evils — that, dear reader, is a waste.

For obvious reasons, Libertarians thoroughly enjoyed this op-ed. Unbeknownst to me, the piece appeared on the official Libertarian National Committee web site; soon thereafter, I was contacted by a gentleman with the Libertarian Party of Ohio, asking if I’d like to speak at their state convention on the future of the two-party system.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Weekends ago, I drove down to Mt. Sterling, Ohio to humbly fulfill my commitment. Representing a viewpoint from the Right, I discussed how the Lincoln Chafees and Arlen Specters, and often the Bush administration, continually leave me behind. While not everyone shared my fervor for social conservatism, I could tell that my message resonated; we were all political vagabonds, seeking our own bit of political solace.

Before the close of convention business, an older gentleman approached the microphone to say a few words. With a big smile on his face, he took a few moments to praise capitalism and the fruits thereof. Then, the finish: “I love the free market,” he said. “It’s better than God!”

Applause followed.

While the comment was likely uttered with tongue-in-cheek, this instance pinpoints the heart of the Libertarian problem – that of elevating man at the expense of crediting his God.

According to the Libertarian National Committee web site, solving America’s deepest problems are simple so long as “a free-market economy…a dedication to civil liberties and personal freedom…a foreign policy of non-intervention…and free trade” are employed.

Additionally, the platform preamble reads that Libertarians “seek a world of liberty…a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives.” For surely, only “through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.”

Make no mistake – I agree with Libertarians on 85% of their platform. Yes, the individual should be allowed to make his own choices. And yes, untainted liberty constitutes the essence of this great country.

But from where do we derive our freedom and liberty? The Declaration tells us that men are “endowed by their Creator” with “certain unalienable rights” – but such absolute guarantees cannot possibly be borne of themselves. If a right is crafted or enacted by man (who is fallen, imperfect, and flawed), then that right can later be changed, abridged, or indeed eliminated, by man. (In other words, that which man creates is just as temporary and unstable as man himself.)

But if a right is crafted by a perfect, sinless, and unchanging God, then no man, group, or government can deny that right. (Likewise, that which God grants is just as absolute and static as God Himself.)

Thomas Jefferson, accused of atheism by many, once noted: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God?”

Jefferson, arguably, was a greater champion for the cause of liberty than any man since. Yet he understood that freedom must be undergirded by something firm, something unwavering.

As insightfully written in the Good Book: “Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1). All Americans would do well to take these words to heart.

Libertarians are indeed our friends in freedom. But they will never be our brethren in Christ until they acknowledge His power – and its absolute indispensability in every aspect of American governance.

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